Towards A Brave New World
by Telperion
Summary: Laurence and Temeraire have some companions on their way to Australia. Set after 'Victory of Eagles'. Laurence/Granby.


The rap on the flimsy wooden door startled Laurence from his thoughts, and it was with no small amount of bewilderment that he instructed the visitor to enter.

Granby appeared in the doorway, the light from the single candle on the shelf throwing a wavering golden glow over his head and shoulders, and not much else.

"What are you doing down here all on your own, Laurence?" Granby asked. "You came down to fetch that dratted book of Temeraire's half an hour ago."

"Oh, I was just looking for it…" Laurence began vaguely.

"Why, it is there in your hand! Come, Laurence. The poor creature is beginning to think you have fallen overboard or something."

Laurence looked down at the book he was holding. _Principia Mathematica_ again, of course. "I shall come directly," he murmured, rising to his feet.

Granby sighed. "Temeraire can wait for a moment," he said abruptly, stepping into the tiny cabin and closing the door behind him. "That dragon is a born worrier, but it will do him no harm to learn that some things must be delayed."

With the two of them inside the cabin there was barely room to move, the only sensible course of action for Granby to sit down on the narrow bunk beside Laurence, their shoulders knocking together in the confined space.

"What is the matter, Will?" Granby asked, his voice quieter now.

Laurence hesitated, unwilling to voice the thoughts that would sound so much like self-pity. But Granby's silence told him the other man was perfectly prepared to wait all day for an answer, and so after a few moments he spoke up.

"I wish we did not have to go so far away," he replied lowly. "It is not fair on Temeraire to be sent such a long way, away from his friends, his home, from everything he knows."

"And you do not believe it fair to yourself either, I think," observed Granby shrewdly.

"I turned traitor to my country," Laurence pronounced. "And now I must pay the penalty."

"And yet you are still sure that what you did was right, and it rankles that you must be punished for it."

"The punishment is just," Laurence reiterated. "But I would much rather I had not dragged my friends and associates down with me."

Turning as much as he was able in such a cramped position, he looked at Granby.

"Why did you come, John?" he demanded quietly. "You should have stayed at home, in England. There is no need for you to be here."

"I told you, it was Iskierka's idea," replied Granby. "She is so hung up on the idea of her and Temeraire's egg that I could not…"

"Yes, you could," Laurence interrupted him. "If you had truly wished it, you _could_ have stopped her. But you did not. So I will ask you again, John. Why did you come?"

Now it was Granby's turn to hesitate. But Laurence was just as good at waiting as his friend, and eventually Granby broke the silence.

"Damn it, Will, I came for _you_," he said savagely. "Are you satisfied now? I could not bear to think of you on this stinking ship all alone, and then stranded in an unknown land with no hope of ever seeing England again."

"I am not alone," Laurence pointed out, ignoring the constrictions of his heart. "Temeraire is with me. He is all I need."

"Oh." Granby seemed taken aback by the pronouncement. He stood stiffly. "Well, in that case, perhaps Iskierka and I _should_ put off at Gibraltar. I daresay we can still be of use at home."

"John, don't be a fool. Please sit down." Laurence held his breath until Granby did as instructed and sat down beside him again.

"It is what you should do," Laurence continued quietly. "It is what I should _make_ you do. You might still be able to talk your way back into the Corps if you return home now, and not be punished as deserters." He paused. "But damn it all, John. For once I am going to be selfish. Temeraire may be all I need, but he is not all I _want_."

Reaching out, he covered Granby's hand with his own where it lay on the other man's knee. "I'm glad you are come, John," he whispered. "I am glad."

They were quiet for a little while, looking at each other by the guttering light of the candle, until a loud roar broke into the moment.

"Laurence! Where is Laurence?"

The rest of Temeraire's words were more muffled, but seemed to comprise a litany of threats against the captain, crew, and prisoners on board the _Allegiance_ if they did not produce Laurence right that very minute. Faintly, Iskierka's voice could be heard adding her own threats if Granby did not also appear.

Granby chuckled, and pressed the _Principia Mathematica_ into Laurence's hands again. "Come, let us go to them before Iskierka takes it into her head to burn the ship where she floats."

"That is if she can manage it before Temeraire swamps us with the divine wind," Laurence responded wryly. "He has been desperate for an opportunity to prove he can manipulate the water as Lien did."

Granby laughed again, and headed towards one of the ladders that would take them above decks. Laurence followed, smiling himself for the first time in may days. They were sailing towards a brave new world, but they were no longer going alone.


End file.
